In September 2010, my former boss approached me about starting a new publication for Griffin. A month later, we produced THE PAPER, a bi-weekly, independently-published newspaper. The turn-around time is absolutely crazy for only two people.

Then, Melanie (that’s my former boss) found out that she was being offered a job for which she applied months before we started. It was an offer neither one of us could/would have refused and an opportunity to “leave work at work” and actually have a life. (Remember what I said about crazy turn-around time? You can’t have much of a “personal” life when you’ve gotten only 14 hours of sleep over a 4-day period trying to get a paper out on time.)

So I’ve assumed the publisher position and am in the process of becoming a business owner. I’ve changed the name from THE PAPER to THE GRIP: Griffin’s Regional Independent Press. (For those of you who don’t know, younger Griffinites who feel that they can’t “escape” this town call Griffin “the grip.” So it’s supposed to be one of those situations where a derogatory word is transformed into a positive thing. Plus it’s just kind of funny and it fit.)

Soooooooooo…… let’s return yet again to that turn around time that was “crazy” for two people. Well, it’s absolutely insane for only one person. But I’m optimistic because a TON of people have approached me and offered to write different articles. For that I couldn’t be more thankful.

The next/first issue of THE GRIP will be out January 20, if all goes well. There have been a few snags when it came to getting my business licence. The latest is that in order to use my home address (I have no use for renting an office space just for me…) for the physical address of the business, I would have to get a special exception to the residential zoning ordinance – even though it’s desktop publishing. Sigh.

After this latest snafu gets resolved (and it will), I hope to offer Griffin an alternative news source – one that uplifts instead of beats down the community. I don’t mean that I’m going to fluff over the negative stuff; I’m just not going to report only on that stuff simply to push papers. I want to focus on the stuff that’s going to help Griffin citizens become more involved in our community.

I’ll try to be better about keeping this blog updated, but it’s gonna be hard. If you really want to follow what I’m up to (and more importantly, get involved in the Griffin community) become a fan of THE GRIP on facebook and visit our website regularly – www.the-grip.net – to see what I’m reporting on. And make sure to offer your suggestions. Don’t be one of those people who just sits back and complains about what’s going on (or not going on) in Griffin. GET INVOLVED AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Start by telling me what you’d like to see in your local independent newspaper. jessica@the-grip.net